


19

by FrankiValerie



Series: After Omega [19]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Before the trilogy, F/F, F/M, Flashbacks, Headcanon, Multi, Young Jack, new characters - Freeform, pre games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-04 23:28:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11565591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrankiValerie/pseuds/FrankiValerie
Summary: A little bit of feels #jalebislove





	19

“Where is that boy?!” Reyes flung the vague question to the nearest worker who stammered a nervous reply until he turned away, looking around the warehouse.  Miles’ would pay for being late.

His OT buzzed and he looked down his nose with a smirk at the glowing display, opening up his messages application; he’d been expecting the dancer from last night to call for round 2, but admittedly not this soon.  He frowned again and huffed a breath when he saw it was from Garrett.  The message preview read “Sorry, Reyes.” and his brow furrowed deeper.  He opened the message, met by the attachment holo.

After the moment it took him to comprehend and focus on the image his eyes widened - his long time partner murdered, torn open and displayed. It had been a long time since anyone had managed to kill someone this close to him - without being on his payroll, at least.  Could it have been Ortez?  No.  That dog had been put down.  Even if he had by a small change survived the bullet and poison, there was no way he would have the strength to do this yet.  Likely this was unrelated.  He scrolled to the message;

_Sorry, Reyes._

_Won’t be checking in today.  I’m feeling a little under the weather._

_Don’t worry about me though - I’ll be seeing you soon._

_Hugs and kisses - Garrett._

He closed the message - it had obviously been sent by the killer.   _“I’ll be seeing you soon.”_  That part in particular was for him, he knew it.  He didn’t bother to care; if anything, this only meant his work was slowed - nothing more than a nuisance. There was a lot to do still and he couldn’t afford pesky interruptions, nor would he tolerate threats.  No one in this galaxy had been able to get to him before he got to them.  He grabbed up his data pad.  His shipment was due, this miniscule issue could wait.

* * *

 

**2177 - Earth, an old farmhouse in Nabraska**

“Babe, you gonna open up?” Stella flinched at his voice, her jaw hardening afterward, annoyed with her nervousness, her weakness.  She closed her eyes, took a breath and moved to the door, pushing her goggles up onto her head. She opened the make-shift lab door just a sliver and peered at her tall, thick set boyfriend.  

There was that look she’d become so accustomed too.  The apology.  She couldn’t bear it, it was too like her father’s.  

“Babe, I’m so sorry.  I didn’t mean to -- to get like that.  You know I love you, right?”

The same excuse.  He didn’t mean to call her a stupid, worthless whore.  He didn’t mean to slap her so hard she fell to the floor and fractured her wrist.  He didn’t mean to kick her in the stomach over and over until she threw up.  He just got like that on a come down.  He’d apologise until he was blue in the face, tell her he was gonna give it all up, that he was just gonna sell the stuff now.  She’d spend the week cooking up another shipment and he’d tell her that he just wanted to test the batch before selling it.  3 bags later she’d be on the floor, bleeding, broken, crying, again.   

She wanted to close the door again, or scream at him, or cut his lying tongue out of his mouth.  Was this truly what love was? It was the only kind she’d known.  Whatever it was, it made her freeze when he pushed open the door and pulled her into a tight embrace.

“It’s gonna get better for us, I promise you that. I got me a new job, a really big one. Come look.”  

He pulled away from her and guided her out the lab and into their bedroom.  He squeezed her hand and dragged her around the room as he moved to grab up a data pad then to their bed to sit with her.  He thrust the datapad into her free hand, his hands now moving to her waist.  

On the data pad was a picture of a girl, maybe 17 or 18.  The photo looked like it had been taken from security footage.  Large bold letters across the bottom of the picture read “Reward.” Her dark hair was very messy, matted.  Her eyes were strong but Stella could see pain within them.  She scrolled slowly through the information;

**Runaway troubled teen.**

**Family very worried.**

**Reward of 2 Billion Credits for safe return.**

**Approach with caution;**

**Target is a powerful biotic and will not hesitate to attack without provocation.**

**We advise pursuers make use of sedatives.**

Stella’s brow furrowed; a worried family advising strangers to use sedatives to capture their daughter? Something wasn’t right here.  She turned to the bull of a man by her side and handed back the data pad, “You want me to cook up something that will knock her out until we deliver her.”

“You read my mind, babe.  Fuck, how’d I get so lucky to have such a smart girl at my side, huh?” He slid off the bed and dropped to his knees in front of her, taking her hands in his and kissing her knuckles softly.

“We just gotta do this one job and then we can start our lives together, babe.  I can give you a big house, we won’t ever have to work, just stay home, get high and fuck all fucking day. Doesn’t that sound fucking perfect?”

Stella’s heart dropped.  That was the last thing she wanted, he knew that.  She wanted to travel and explore, she’d told him all of this so many times. All he wanted was to keep her as his pet.  She really was nothing to him.  Just a stupid, worthless whore.

His lips moved from her knuckles to her thighs and soon he was pushing her back onto the bed to remove her panties then nuzzle and lap clumsily at her core.  She was too numb to feel his touch, or the tears pouring from her eyes.

* * *

 

**Present day - Omega**

Jack’s OT flashed brightly and she fumbled to pay the vendor for another 4 burgers and read the message; “Jack. Caleb awake. Asking for you.  Worried. Elevated stress levels bad for recovery. Mordin.”  

She stuffed the food into a brown paper bag and took off at a jog, so eager to tell Caleb all she’d done.

When she finally got back to the clinic, Jack frowned at hearing the familiar purr of a voice coming from Caleb’s room. She opened the door slowly and took in the sight; a petite and slender woman with short mousy-brown hair sat on the side of Caleb’s bed, her hand in his, her other hand stroking gently up his arm, the two laughing.  

Caleb was unsurprisingly sat upright, and after a moment he spotted Jack by the door and his smile widened, “Hey! Jack! Where the fuck you been? Look who’s here!”

Stella turned and smiled to Jack over her shoulder, meeting her eyes, but said nothing. 

Jack stepped around to the other side of Caleb’s bed and placed the burgers on his lap, taking one out for herself.  He didn’t seem to note the tension in the air, likely too distracted by the smell and the extremely audible rumble of his stomach.  He beamed, “Sweet, J, thanks.”

She pulled her usual chair over and sat herself down, eyes still fixed on Stella.  

Stella exhaled and slid off the side of the bed with a small smile.  She tilted her head, “Been busy, Jack? Clean up duty, no doubt, after your latest... victory?”

Jack’s jaw hardened, she glanced to Caleb, who looked between the two with a mouthful of burger.  From the confusion on his face, she guessed Stella hadn’t told him anything just yet.  

“Yeah, could say that.  What made you come over?” she kept her tone cold.  

Stella beamed then bent to grab up a small metal case from the floor, straightening and showing it to Jack, “Business - Professor Solus wanted to see a couple new samples I have.  It’s a really interesting project I’ve been working on, I use flora from Dekuuna spliced with--”

Jack interrupted her with a grunt in her throat, waving her hand, “Zero fucks given, Stel.  Go see Mordin, gimme a couple minutes here…” She jerked her head to Caleb. 

Stella lowered the case to her side, gave a smile that read as friendly but Jack saw her irritation and reluctance to leave, “Very well, I’m sure you’ve a lot to talk about.” There was a pause where the only sound was Caleb’s hearty chewing and then Stella flicked her hair back and strode for the room, turning at the door to smile brightly at Caleb, “Get well soon, handsome.  You know how to get in touch if you need anything…” she winked, closing the door slowly, “And I mean _anything_.”

When she closed the door Caleb swallowed and chuckled, “Nice surprise to see her here when I woke up”.  He looked to Jack who sat back in the chair and shrugged.  Obviously Stella hadn’t let on she knew Caleb was here before coming down, or that she had any involvement… maybe she could use that later.  

Caleb’s smile fell, “Where you been, J? What victory was she talking about?”

Jack purposefully took a bigger bite at his questions, holding his gaze as she chewed, then seeing his frown deepen she grinned, “Just been busy, C.  Taking out the trash.  Making some preparations for you getting discharged.  Getting food,” she gestured to the bag on his lap, “Talking to Mordin.  Oh, and I killed Garrett Miles.”

Caleb almost choked on his burger, then stared at her.

Her smile dropped and she raised a brow, “You seem surprised.”

Still he stared at her, “You’re serious.” He commented.

She nodded slowly, “I asked you if I could, told you I’d happily kill him. You wanna see the holo of his body? I sent it to Reyes. I want him getting paranoid, making mistakes.”

Caleb tried turning himself toward her but the residual pain in his ribs stopped him, he grunted “Reyes? You contacted that fuck? Jack, what the fuck?”

“I took the holo on Miles’ OT, then sent it through _his_ comms.  The message was vague but clear on one front - he knows he’s next.  Reyes is such an asshole, C, he probably doesn’t even care.  He’ll disregard it but it’ll stick in the back of his mind.  Most he’s gonna do, if he even takes notice is hire a few extra guys to protect his ass.  He won’t even rush his job.”

Caleb opened his mouth to interrupt her, she raised her voice, annoyed that this wasn’t the reaction she was hoping for; she wanted him to be happy, hopeful.

“He’s selling girls, by the way.  I found that out. He’s using a secure Warehouse in the Talis district.  All security watching the place is on his payroll, which means they’re all a soft show of muscle. And he’s leaving in 3 days.  You’re on bed rest for 5.  You need me to distract him, keep him around for those extra 2 days.”

Again he opened his mouth to retort but still she spoke over him, her irritation growing, “C’mon then, Caleb, tell me this was stupid and dangerous and reckless and that I have to stop because this is your past, your mess and your problem.”

He shifted and winced at the pain it caused, the resulting sharp intake of breath giving Jack more time to talk over him, “Tell me I want nothing to do with it” she sat forward in her chair again and lowered her voice, “tell me all of that shit - so I can tell you that you’re right... but that I don’t give a fuck because _I love you_ .  And I need you around. So this is just as much my problem as it is yours. This fucker might have done some shitty stuff and seen a lot of shit but there’s no way he’s dealt with someone like me before - especially when I’m this pissed off and focused on taking him down for you.   _With_ you.  He doesn’t have a fucking clue what he’s up against this time, C, he’s not gonna see any of this coming. It’d be stupid not to jump on this good of an opportunity to end that fossil of a fucking coward while we can.”

Caleb had stopped trying to interrupt her and eventually went back to eating.

After a minute of silence he tried again, “Can I talk now?”

“No,” she sat back, returning to her burger, smirking “You can shut the fuck up and eat your fucking burger.”

He watched her a moment then nodded, finally mirroring her smirk, “I love you too, Jack.”

  
She couldn’t hide her grin, meeting his eye again, a small blush rising in her cheeks, “Shut up and eat.”


End file.
